Large scale surveillance systems, such as a city-wide surveillance system, are becoming more important in light of terrorist attacks such as the Boston Marathon Bombing. In the case of the Boston Marathon Bombing, video from many different cameras was analyzed to help identify the suspects. Analyzing large data sets collected across a surveillance system can create a significant data infrastructure burden. The ability to efficiently and quickly analyze data collected from a large number of devices, such as video cameras, can help law enforcement apprehend a suspect or even prevent an attack or other crime.
Conventional surveillance systems that are distributed across a large geographical area, such as a city or an airport, can require time to access and identify potentially relevant data collected from different locations. In systems where data is collected at a central location, the amount of data that needs to be sent and analyzed at the central location can make analysis of the data cumbersome and time consuming.